Eat more cake
Olive & Rose, Santa Barbara, La Pinte des Mossettes, Sea Ranch, Zuma 1975, luxury investments, Paso Robles wineries, MORE
RESTAURANTS • First Word
Coming up roses
The Skinny: Opened last month, Olive & Rose at the newly revamped Century City Motel is the sophomore effort from the sister-and-brother team behind Long Beach’s acclaimed Heritage — and an impressive one at that. Here, they’ve eschewed tasting menus for more casual fare and a relaxed vibe.
The Vibe: Serene and chic, but unbuttoned. The small dining room is framed by light wood and green accents, with curved chairs and understated, linear artwork throughout. Windows on both sides of the space look out onto the street and the motel’s expansive patio. For a more intimate experience, book the five-seat chef’s counter. Set in a separate room, it provides a good perch to watch the chefs work in a postage-stamp-sized kitchen. An outdoor patio is coming, but still in the works.
The Food: Upscale bagels by day (all the way up the scale to the caviar-topped $100 Bagel), and modern bistro fare by night. The dinner menu is simple but smart. Hope Ranch mussels are bathed in a dill-flecked dashi beurre blanc (add an order of bread to sop it up). Cucumber, grape, and creme fraiche “pearls” accompany an amberjack crudo, which makes the dish difficult to handle, but the cool, fresh flavors are spot-on. And slices of roasted pork shoulder are beautifully rosy, served atop a nutty romesco. The restaurant is still waiting for its liquor license, so the only drink options are sans booze, but the togarashi-spiked, zero-proof Radio Cosmos cocktail and a bright sparkling NA cuvée didn’t disappoint.
The Verdict: A charming little spot destined for more once the drinks and sunshine come through. –Karen Palmer
→ Olive & Rose (Long Beach) • 255 Atlantic Ave • Dinner: Tues-Sat 5p-9p • Reserve.
LA RESTAURANT LINKS: In the former Maude space, Curtis Stone debuts a pop-up bakery • LA’s first Latina-owned dog bakery, La Pawnaderia, opens in Downey • Oste partners prepping Chez Nous on W. 3rd in Weho • Cafe Oh! No at Yess brings daytime buzz to the Arts District • Infatuation’s best new LA restaurants of 2024 • The only wine you need this holiday season.
GOODS & SERVICES • FOUND Sponsor
Water & all that we love
Ryan and Arjan here, the co-founders of Jolie, a beauty wellness company focused on purifying the quality of one’s shower water for better skin and hair. We’re both fans and readers of FOUND, which is why we decided to sponsor this newsletter to reach like-minded folks like you.
As much as we love discussing water’s impact on skin and hair, we’re equally enamored by the connection of water to all else that we love in life — art, coffee, surfing, food, oysters, ceramics, and so much more. That’s why we created a fun video series, Water &, which looks at these topics through the lens of water. Some highlights:
We spent an early morning in Montauk with artist Joe Henry Baker who used the salty ocean water to paint with and wet his canvases, resulting in a crystallization in the painting as it dried.
We spent an evening with Esben Piper, the founder of the renowned Danish coffee company, La Cabra, at their Soho location in New York. Did you know that the parts per million of minerals in water (or the water’s “hardness”) made to brew La Cabra’s coffee is finely tuned to extract flavor while not making the coffee taste sour?
We joined designer Cynthia Rowley for a morning surf out east on Long Island, where the water is both a calming force for her and “balance” to her planned out, calendared work days.
We’ve always loved oysters, but we loved them even more once we started spending time with both the Billion Oyster Project and Montauk Pearl Oyster’s Mike Martinsen. Oysters clean the water by filtering water as they eat, removing ecosystem-destroying pollutants such as nitrogen. They also act as a natural storm barrier and help foster biodiversity. (The Billion Oyster Project, our non-profit of choice, is restoring the oyster reefs in New York’s harbors to clean the Hudson and East Rivers. Last we checked, 122 million oysters have been restored in New York’s harbor over the last 10 years.)
You can watch all of our Water & videos on our website here.
We worked with these partners because we think they are the best at what they do. If you are thinking about buying a Jolie, we encourage you to do so via the link below. We are picking five FOUND buyers to gift a year’s worth of La Cabra coffee to make at home.
The role of water is all around us. –Ryan Babenzien & Arjan Singh
→ Shop: The Jolie Filtered Showerhead (Jolie) • available in brushed gold, modern chrome, brushed steel, jet black, and vibrant red • $148.
WORK • Thursday Routine
And it’s not even my birthday
ROXANNE ROSENSTEEL • owner & pastry chef • Roxanne Rosensteel
Neighborhood you live in: Eastside, Santa Barbara
It’s Thursday morning. What’s the scene at your workplace?
I’m sitting by our big window, drinking a cup of hot black coffee, and going over my to-do list (I swear by the Things app).
What’s on the agenda for today?
Thursdays are usually heavy production days for a weekend event, but since I (mostly) have this weekend off and it’s a major heatwave, I’m going to catch up on some non-oven-related tasks: cleaning and polishing silver serving pieces for an upcoming dessert table, processing plums for jam, and making lots of buttercream for upcoming wedding cakes.
We just booked a trip to Switzerland and France to see my partner’s family later this fall, so I’ll also be spending some time planning. My friend Danielle Rubi is a seasoned traveler and recommended visiting the baths in Gruyere and reserving a table at a countryside restaurant, La Pinte des Mossettes. It’s been a long and productive wedding season, so mentally, I’m there.
Any restaurant plans today, tonight, this weekend?
I just picked up some bread from our friends at Oat Bakery, so for dinner I might make something light and easy, like tomato toast and a big green salad. Saturday morning I’ll hit the farmers’ market right at 8am, then meet a friend for coffee at Handlebar. For dinner we love to post up at the bar at Bettina for pizza and pasta, or make our way to Dang Burger in Carpinteria. On a typical weekend when I’m working an event, I’ll get takeout falafel from The Daisy where the food is always fresh and calming.
How about a little leisure or culture?
I’ve been having lots of movie nights with friends, so we’ll grab a bottle of wine from Satellite or Potek, and I’ll usually bake something for us to snack on. Recently we watched The Taste of Things with Juliette Binoche, which was maybe one of the most sensual food movies I’ve ever seen. Next on our list is Party Girl – somehow I’ve never seen it!
For wellness, I’ve been working with Minka Robinson at Points of Health. I’ve always found acupuncture very regulating, and they really take care of you at their office. But nothing feels more indulgent than waking up and jumping in the ocean first thing when the waves are still gentle.
Any weekend getaways?
For a day trip we’ll make our way to the valley for a long lunch at Bell’s or dinner at Full of Life Flatbread. We also love Na Na Thai, especially the gai tod and larb moo, which is so face-meltingly spicy you’ll need to order several bottles of pét-nat to help cool you down.
We love to drive up north any chance we get and stay overnight in San Luis Obispo or Cambria, where we’ll get dinner with my dad at Babydudes in Morro Bay and make a scenic drive to Gopher Glen in See Canyon for the best apples on the coast.
What was your last great vacation?
In July, we spent a week in Sea Ranch, which truly feels like heaven on earth. Some highlights of the trip were sashimi, chicken skin skewers, and crisp sake from Izakaya Gama in Point Arena, and a sunset glass of wine at the Sea Ranch Lodge. But we mostly cooked at our rental, and enjoyed long golden hour meals with the deer, skunks, foxes, and hawks. On the drive home we made sure to stop at Palm City Wines in San Francisco for an Italian hoagie, and ate it on the tailgate at the beach.
What’s a recent big-ticket purchase you love?
I recently got a bottle of Zuma, 1975 from Thin Wild Mercury for my birthday. The scent feels bright and not too cloying, and one spritz helps me feel pulled together in the evening after a day spent in the kitchen.
LA WORK & PLAY LINKS: 28% of Southern California homes are worth $1MM+ • 50 years later, Breakers Long Beach reopens • US office market moves closer to post-pandemic recovery • Pet sick days are the new employee-perk battleground.
WORK • Luxury Report
Tick tock
Years ago, a friend argued that buying high-end bags, watches, and jewelry wasn’t careless consumption, but a smart investment strategy. And for a while, the luxury goods market seemed to have no bounds. The Hermes Birkin handbags purchased for $2,000 in 1984 jumped as high as $100,000. (The origin story helped. Actress Jane Birkin pitched the idea for the iconic bag to Hermes CEO Jean-Louis Dumas on a flight from Paris to London.)
Maybe my friend was right.
The market got a boost when specialized reseller The RealReal got traction. Founded by Julie Wainwright, the company extended the life cycle of luxury goods and built a circular economy around pricey clothes and accessories.
It’s not the stock exchange or real estate’s MLS, but could it become an efficient marketplace? Probably not. As demand slows and prices slide, luxury goods seem more like planes and boats, less like houses and publicly traded equities. In the end, maybe The RealReal didn’t do anything more than authenticate consigned luxury items.
Today, the market is still sloppy and inefficient, reliant on fickle brand-obsessed consumption, which favors almost-couture. Long-term value is hard to sustain. Of course, select items — treasures — will appreciate, but the insanity bubble has burst. For proof, I don’t have to look any further than my wrist, which displays my first Cartier watch, an exquisite reflection of poor market timing. –Brad Inman
CULTURE & LEISURE • Walking on a Dream
Empire of the Sun • Hollywood Bowl (Hollywood) • Sat @ 730p • terrace 3, $449 per
Dave Chappelle & Killer Mike • Terrace Theater at Long Beach Convention & Entertainment Center (Long Beach) • Sat @ 8p • loge 2, $486 per
Interpol • Kia Forum (Inglewood) • Sun @ 8p • section 109, $161 per
ASK FOUND
Today, three FOUND subscriber PROMPTS for which we seek intel:
Best high-end vintage jewelry? I love Jack Weir. Who else is out there?
Where should we host our office holiday dinner this year?
Any new and interesting ticketed NYE dinners this year?
Got answers or more questions? Hit reply or email found@itsfoundla.com.
GETAWAYS LINKS: New in Palm Springs: Lost Property in Skylark Hotel • Also: for 30-somethings, Palm Springs is a movement • T&L’s 50 places to travel in 2025 • Everything you need to know about flying private • Shoulder season goes mainstream.
GETAWAYS • The Nines
Wineries, Paso Robles
The Nines are FOUND's distilled lists of LA’s best. Additions or subtractions? Hit reply or found@itsfoundla.com.
L’Aventure Winery (Willow Creek District), innovative reds and rosés w/ neo-French influence from famed Bordeaux winemaker